Gaffney Fire Department

 PRIDE TRADITION SPIRIT SINCE 1900

The Mission of the Gaffney Fire Department is to Serve the Citizens and Businesses of the Greater Gaffney Fire District by Protecting Life, Property, and the Environment from the Hazards and Dangers of Fires, Medical Emergencies, and Manmade and Natural Disasters Through Prevention, Education and Timely Incident Response.

By Tim Gula Ledger Staff Writer tim@gaffneyledger.com

The Gaffney Fire Department is on the lookout for a few Explorers interested in the career of public service.

Sponsored by the City of Gaffney, a Gaffney Fire Department Explorer Post is being formed to give area boys and girls, ages 14 to 20, and opportunity to explore a career as a firefighter. An organizational meeting will be held Thursday, Jan. 14, at 6:30 pm at the Multipurpose Room of Cherokee Technology Center.

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 In October 1899, the concern for the life safety and property conservation became apparent when the citizens of Gaffney met to discuss a fire department for their City. In March of 1900 the newly organized Gaffney Fire Department met for the first time to train with their new equipment, which was housed adjacent to the old city hall at the intersection of Limestone and Meadow Streets.

     On May 2, 1913, Gaffney Town Council authorized building rooms and a stairway in the City Hall for its firefighters and installed a fire bell in the Courthouse. This single station served the City of Gaffney for many years until a second station was constructed on West Montgomery Street in 1968. The substation on West Montgomery Street was built to help provide fire protection in the area west of the railroad. In 1974, construction was completed on a new Gaffney Fire Department Main Station located a 205 North Limestone Street, site of the old City Hall. In 2002, the Overbrook Fire Station was constructed to replace the West Montgomery Street Station in order to better serve the western part of the City.

     In January 2003, the East Gaffney Fire Station was completed to provide a quicker response and higher level of service to the densely populated and industrialized Greater Gaffney Area.

     The Gaffney Fire Department has developed from a volunteer department with only a hose cart to a paid department with 33 paid firefighters, 1 paid fire chief, 1 paid secretary, and 1 paid Training Officer operating 7 pieces of fire fighting apparatus protecting approximately 25,000 residents of the Greater City of Gaffney area. All firefighters are trained to the NFPA level of Firefighter II, Hazardous Materials Technician and medical First Responder. We staff two of our three fire stations with one engine company each while the company at the main station splits duty as ladder and engine company. We also have a reserve engine and three support vehicles.

     On December 1, 2008, Scott Coleman started his duties as the Gaffney Fire Department's first full-time Training Officer.

     Our fire district is made up of a mixture of residential, commercial and industrial facilities, including approximately 10 miles of Interstate 85, a major route of travel between Washington D.C. and Atlanta, Georgia; 10 miles of the Plantation and Williams petroleum pipelines; 12 miles of railroad with 26 freight and passenger trains each day; and two power generation plants located along the Broad River. In 2008, the three Gaffney Fire Department stations responded to over 2500 calls for fire, rescue and medical assistance. Please feel free to explore our site and thanks for visiting.

Since 2001, the Gaffney Fire Department has received $518,871.00 in grants.